The Inner Assassin
by Prnyctina1091
Summary: Sportsmaster knelt in front her, lifting her chin forcefully. "Scared to embrace just how deadly you can be?" The glaring look she shot at him did little to ease the chills that made their way down her spine. "Don't think about your little team, baby girl." Lawrence quickly peered over his shoulder. "They're not here." ONE SHOT


Okay so basically I haven't been able to function since Endgame and I just need to pretend my OTP is alive and well and happy...so if it looks like I fell off the face of the Earth, it's because I did...like it hurts to write any spitfire stories because...ugh DC Nation just destroyed me...

ANYWAY, I was watching **RWBY** and the sword fighting scenes got to me and I realized I wanted an awesome pre-5 year skip of Artemis sword fighting with her dad and Wally not realizing how awesome she actually is when it comes to lethal weapons and maybe thats why she picked the bow because it can be altered to not be **deadly** and yeah if anyone wants to take this concept and rewrite it and make it work by all means PLEASE DO because I need this story and so many variations of it so please feel free to borrow content and stuff and yeah just enjoy and let me know what you think...

* * *

_How had it gone so wrong, so fast?_

Sportsmaster was circling around her as she struggled to get up. Engaging in hand to hand combat with her father was always going to be inevitable, but Artemis had hoped it would be on her terms. He had gotten the upper hand on her when he hit her with his mace, causing her to black out for a split second, and proceeded to toss her like a rag doll to the other side of the warehouse. "What are you afraid of, Baby Girl?" He taunted her as she hit the floor with a thud.

He walked over to her, unsheathing a katana, and tossing it towards her. Sliding and clanking across the floor, it skidded to a stop just above her head. "Use it. _**Now**_." Artemis recognized that grave tone; he tended to use it when she was upsetting him. She quickly took in her surroundings. She had come alone as per his request but wondered how her team would take it when they learned she had taken on her father alone, _again_.

Artemis could see her collapsible bow across the room from her periphery. Sportsmaster had kicked it out of her hands when he dropped from the rafters before she could shoot a single arrow. Lawrence saw the quick glance Artemis had made towards the object. He walked over to the weapon and stomped on it, breaking the bow in two. "Now, Artemis. I know you always had a proclivity for archery, but we both know it's not the only weapon you _know_ how to use."

Sportsmaster knelt in front her, lifting her chin forcefully. "Scared to embrace just how deadly you can be?" The glaring look she shot at him did little to ease the chills that made their way down her spine. "Don't think about your little team, baby girl." Lawrence quickly peered over his shoulder. "They're not here."

She picked up the sword and rose to her feet, never breaking eye contact with her father. "Good." Sportsmaster spread his feet apart and took his sword in both hands. "It's been too long since our last sparring session. I just want to make sure you're not rusty." Artemis scowled, adjusted her stance, and wrapped both of her hands around the lethal weapon.

She soared forward, a feral noise escaping her as she vehemently brought down the weapon, clashing against her father's own sword. She gracefully stepped to the left and dodged his thrust. The outside edge of blade met her own in a beat as she pivoted to the right. She keenly traversed his attack and brought the weapon down again, only to meet another block.

* * *

The clang of swords brought Wally out of combat mode. He strained his hearing to listen for the direction it had come from. She had done it, _again_. She went out on her own to fight her father because 'it's not _their_ fight. It's _her_ fight." Wally hated when she used that argument. If she could admit that the team was her new family, then she should get used to the idea of having back up. _All of her _fights were _their_ fights on basic principle now and she just needed to accept that. Now the entire team, save for Robin, was on a 'Retrieve' mission, responsible for getting her back.

Wally continued to look for Artemis, despite being slightly foggy. His super speed had allowed him to mow down a few henchmen but somewhere along the way he had been hit with a dart, probably similar to the one that had taken out M'gann. A poisoned dart that could knock out a sumo wrestler had taken her out and Superboy was taking her back to the bioship. Wally's fast metabolism had probably weakened the toxin's potency but he could tell his fighting had been affected.

Wally speedily made his way through the warehouse where everyone was engaged in some sort of battle. Kal'dur had ordered Superboy to stay with M'gann on the bioship and prepare to pilot it once they had extracted Artemis.

"AHHH!" Blood dripped from the slice on Artemis' back. She had tripped up her footwork and stumbled, leaving her backside open. Sportsmaster fingers flexed against the hilt, as he admired his work. She swiftly turned to face him, adrenaline surging through her body, running on instinct. "You've gotten sloppy." He held his sword in front of his face, her blood coating the blade.

Wally skidded to a stop in front of the pair, eyes wide. The exposed skin of Artemis' back was covered in blood, dripping large droplets to the floor and saturating the back of her pants. She had a sword in her hands, wielding it with a skill Wally wasn't aware she possessed.

Sportsmaster glanced in Kid Flash's direction, "looks like we've got an audience now." Artemis quickly scanned the area, meeting Wally's worried expression with shame. "Let's put on a _show_, baby girl. Show your teammates how _good_ you actually are." He lunged at her, brandishing his weapon with ease as Artemis expertly dodged and swung at her father with ferocity.

Wally watched in abject horror as Artemis' blows weakened. She swayed on her feet, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She stepped to the right and stumbled to her knees, her sword falling from her hands. Sportsmaster raised his sword for the final blow when Wally whooshed in, scooped her up, and ran for the nearest exit.

"Team: Report" Kal'dur's voice rang in Wally's head as he made his way towards the door. The mind link had been reestablished but was weak at best. "Where's the bioship? We're ready for extraction but Artemis is hurt." Wally's panicked voice flitted through the link. "We're en route. M'gann's conscious but still out of it." Conner's somber tone entered Wally's mind.

Kal'dur mentally sighed through the link, "Get to the rendezvous. This mission is over." Wally broke the door off of its hinges as he plowed through. The night was brisk and Artemis began to shiver in his arms. She opened her eyes slightly while trying to cling to his neck. Her frail grasp left Wally on edge.

"Thanks." Wally could barely hear the whispered admission of gratitude. He looked down at her, his hands slick with her blood. "Anytime, Beautiful. You _know_ I've always got your back." She chuckled lightly in his arms and then winced, her face scrunching in pain. "So does my dad…apparently."

Wally's lips tightened in frustration, the wind blowing intensely across his face. "Not a great time for jokes, babe." Her grip on him slackened considerably. Wally looked down and was met with an unconscious archer in his cradled arms. Wally pushed himself even harder to run faster, "Just hold on, Artemis, we're almost there."

* * *

The flight back to Mount Justice was quiet. The second the pair had arrived at the rendezvous, M'gann telekinetically lifted Artemis and brought her to the back. They laid her on her front and applied pressure and gauze to her extensive wound. Kal'dur had radioed Red Tornado and verified that medical assistance would be needed upon their arrival.

Wally sat next to the slab Artemis was currently laying on. She was still unconscious but Kal'dur had set up an IV and hooked her up to a heart moniter. Wally's foot tapped the floor incessantly as he entwined his fingers with Artemis'.

Her eyes fluttered open as her hold on Wally's hand tightened. He looked up at her face as she came to. "Hey, beautiful." There was no trace of anger on Wally's bright face but Artemis knew it was only a matter of time before he chewed her out for this one and she knew she deserved it. "Hey, yourself." Despite the odd mix of numbness and pain she was feeling, she smirked up at Wally. Her ponytail fell across her shoulder, obscuring her view of his face.

Wally's elation quickly fell away as his serious face emerged. "What happened to no more solo missions?" Artemis attempted to pull her hand away from his but Wally gripped her hand tighter. "Artemis, we've _talked_ about this a million times. We've had this _fight_ a million times! You don't have to face your father alone." Artemis turned here head away from Wally, stared at the bioship wall, and let out an exasperated sigh. "I know." Wally waited to see if she would continue but an uncomfortable silence filled the air. "That's it? No, 'I'm sorry'? No 'it won't happen again?'" Wally glanced at the bandages on Artemis' back and noticed how soiled they had become in the short amount of time.

Artemis turned her head to look at Wally again, her eyes glossy. "You said we should never lie to each other. So I can't say I'm sorry because I'm _not_. And I can't say it won't happen _again_, because it _will_." Wally was taken back by the admission and just stared at her, his fingers still interlocked with hers. Artemis used her free hand to push herself up off the slab, with their hands still clasped together. Her teeth clenched at the shooting pain that went down her back.

"Do you know how long I've been training?" Wally stared at her, scared to interrupt her. "I've been training my entire life." Artemis looked down at her feet, dangling off the slab, and stared at the scuffmarks on her boots. "Not to be a _hero_, but to be an _assassin_." She spit out the word like it burned her to say it. "My past…it's mine, Wally's." She raised their joined hands up and gestured to them, "What we have, I love it..." Her eyes pleaded with him and Wally couldn't help but listen to her explain. "And I know you want to help and be there for me…but sometimes the best thing you can do for me is just…get back…because when it comes to my _family_, I can take care of them, myself." She placed their clasped hands in her lap and wrapped her other hand around his. "That's just how it's gotta be."

Wally let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. She didn't want the team involved because she was worried for their wellbeing. She felt this weird sense of obligation when it came to her family; like only she should have to face them like they were her own personal dirty laundry she didn't want anyone else handling. Like it was her mess alone to clean up. She hadn't said any of that, but he could tell it was what she meant.

"That sounds crazy, Artemis." She looked up at him, her thumbs making small incoherent patterns on his hand; worry evidently etched on her face. "But I love you enough to support you." Wally leaned in closer, body suddenly tense. "It's just…when you do these things without telling anyone, just running off to fight your dad. It worries the _hell_ out of me. I mean…I found you on your knees in front of him, bleeding _profusely_." Wally enunciated the last word, meeting her gaze.

Artemis leaned in closer and met her forehead with his. "Babe" she muttered, smirking, half pained and half content. "Seriously, Artemis. I get that you don't want me fighting by your side…" Artemis pulled away, shocked to here the blunt nature of her own confession and how he had interpreted it. "But can you at least tell me when you decide to do these things. I mean…at least let me be your cheering section." Wally's eyes were clouded with fear when they met her own.

Artemis mouth opened to say something but Wally hushed her with his own words. "I get it. It's your fight, your family…it's just…I want to know when you're _going_ to fight so I don't _go_ crazy…if that's cool with you." He brought his free hand up to her face, cupping her cheek. Artemis serenely closed her eyes, melting into Wally's touch. "Okay…" she breathed out. Her eyes opened searching for Wally's who met her gaze immediately. "I love you." She said with all the conviction she could muster. Wally's serious expression faltered as he started to smile. "I love you, too."


End file.
